Sister of man killed in Sebring speaks after arrest of his alleged killers | News

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AVON PARK, Fla. -- U.S. marshals captured two Avon Park men on the run wanted in connection with the murder of 20-year-old Aaron Doty.

The men were caught in Orlando Wednesday afternoon.

"I not only lost a brother, I lost my friend. I lost a piece of my heart," says 23-year-old Blair Doty, Aaron's sister.

Blair says now that the men are behind bars, her family can seek justice for her brother.

"It starts. It'll be a long journey and more hard work, but at least they (Rodriguez and Felipe) have to face what they've done," says Blair.

Aaron went missing Sunday morning after a party at the Sun 'N Lake Subdivision in Sebring. Blair says she and a group of friends went to look for Aaron. Around 1 p.m. Monday, she got the call.

"You can only tell yourself so many times 'He's not here' then when someone confirms someone that means everything to you no longer here it hits home hard," says Blair.

Deputies say Doty's body was found in a wooded area of the Sun N 'Lake Subdivision burned and mutilated, about 15 minutes from the duplex where the party was held Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

Highlands Sheriff's deputies say Aaron was last seen at the duplex of 22-year-old Jonathan Rodriguez and 19-year-old Kenneth Felipe around 4:30 Sunday morning. The three reportedly got into a fight. Deputies issued a warrant for Rodriguez and Felipe for second degree murder, and the two men fled the area.

Blair says, "I feel sorry for them. How can a person be so lost, lose their self and soul."

Ironically, Blair says she went to school with Rodriguez and even spoke to him Sunday afternoon about the fight with her brother. Blair says Rodriguez told her the fight was over nothing, that her brother was fine. But by the next day, Blair says both men were on the run.

She says,"It hurts worst then a stranger doing it."

Now that both men have been caught, Blair holds on to the memories of her brother. She says, "He had flaws, he was not perfect, but he did not deserve this. He was the type of person that would give you his shirt if you needed it."

Rodriguez and Felipe are charged with second degree murder, abuse of a human body, and tampering with physical evidence. They are being held at the Orange County Jail and, after their first appearance Thursday morning, the men will be transported to Highlands County.